| Amigas en Salud: Global Partners from Minnesota to Mexico On Thursday, 26 February 2004, the
Center on Women and Public Policy and Planned
Parenthood of Minnesota/South Dakota co-hosted the international
family planning event, Amigas
en Salud: Global Partners from Minnesota to Mexico. After a
registration and reception with guitar music, food, and organization
displays, director of the Center on Women and Public Policy, professor
Sally J. Kenney opened the program with a welcome to an audience
of approximately 250 representatives of non-profit health organizations,
community members, policymakers, students, and educators to began
a stimulating discussion on the difficulties in administering healthy
sexuality education to diverse populations of Minnesotan and Mexican
youth.
Sarah Stoesz, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota/ South Dakota
spoke about the challenges of providing healthy sexuality education
and clinic services in the U.S and abroad under the Global Gag rule.
Keynote speaker, Jan Malcolm spoke about her experiences as former
Commissioner for Minnesota Department of Health. International guests
of honor from the family planning Neza clinic of La
Fundacion Mexicana para la Planeacion Familiar (Mexfam) shared
their struggles and successes in administering sexuality education
to combat Mexico's exploding population and thwart the spread of
STI's and HIV/AIDS. In an impressive presentation, Barbara Munguia,
Directora de la Region Neza, Mexfam, taught the diverse audience
about Neza's success in educating young people on healthy sexuality,
with their Gente
Joven program.
One audience member expressed her "sheer pride", as a
Latin American woman being witness to a Mexican organization teaching
Minnesotan family planning groups how to be more successful in teaching
young people about healthy sexuality. Professor Sally J. Kenney
led and moderated a panel discussion which included Jennifer Godinez,
Executive Director of La Escuelita and Humphrey alumnus, Tyrone
Guzman, Executive Director of Centro de Salud, Ehryn Barthelme,
Community Education Manager, Rochester Planned Parenthood, and Janny
Dwyer Brust, President of Minnesota Public Health Association.
We hope this dialogue will help facilitate stronger collaborations
in providing youth sexuality education, family planning and pregnancy
prevention services to all Minnesotan communities.
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